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Four Favorite Video Game Villains (of the Past Decade)

Far Cry 4 comes out tomorrow, November 18th, and reasons 1-10 for me wanting to get it have to do with the game’s main antagonist, Pagan Min.

He’s everything I love in a villain: sarcastic, witty, highly quotable, casually violent, awesome fashion sense, and, from what I can tell, an unrepentant bad guy with very little of that redemption backstory people are so fond of these days.

I can already tell he’s going to be a favorite, which naturally got me thinking about what other video game villains I love to hate to love (I’m only considering ones from the past ten years, otherwise we’d be here all damn day.)

You’ll probably notice going through this list that I have a Type when it comes to bad guys. I admit this, I embrace it, I am unabashed. Give me tons more of these types of villains and I will be a happy, happy gamer.

In no particular order:

Vaas Montenegro, Far Cry 3

“Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is?”

Well, obviously this guy is gonna be on this list. Pagan Min’s predecessor in sadistic insanity/the Far Cry franchise, Vaas’s main goal in the game was to fuck up protagonist Jason Brody’s life. And thus, I loved him. My only wish is that he could’ve stuck around more (and I feel so betrayed that he didn’t, because the dude was literally on all the covers of the game. If they pull this with Pagan, I will scream.)

GLaDOS, Portal/Portal 2

“Cake and grief counseling will be available at the conclusion of the test.”

Portal wouldn’t be Portal without this murderous A.I. trailing you one puzzle after another, mocking you all the while. Her deadpan delivery on all the threats, the insults, and the jokes, were what made these games as memorable and enjoyable as they were. She eventually became our reluctant partner-in-crime in Portal 2.

Zinyak, Saints Row IV

“Anyone who refers to Toccata and Fugue in D minor as ‘The Dracula Song’ will be executed.”

On the one hand, he’s an alien warlord who invaded Earth and enslaved the entirety of humankind before ending up blowing up the entire planet for petty revenge. On the other hand, he’s eloquent and highly cultured, kinda charming, very hilarious, and has a great love for Jane Austen and classical music. Also, he turned a Biz Markie song into opera. How can you not love him?

Handsome Jack, Borderlands 2/Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

“Get your shit together, I got people to kill!”

Handsome Jack is the sadistic, murdering, self-proclaimed dictator of Pandora and an all around evil bastard who considers himself the hero of the story, thus making you, the player, a bitch killing his vibe. He’s also a huge troll. Haaaandsome!